Watchuseek Blog

Friday, June 8, 2012

Another man's poison: Perrelet Turbine Toxic

Earlier this week we presented the Daniel Strom Agonium Collection, a series of gothically inspired watches drawing heavily on skull symbols and memento mori.

Such imagery is all the rage in fashionable watchmaking circles at the moment. Many a top Swiss brand is being lured by the mystery and occult of the skull as the human brain cannot separate the image of the human skull from the familiar human face. It has now become a symbol of rebelliousness and cool.

Not to be left out, the new Perrelet Turbine Toxic models flirts with such imagery by displaying the skull symbol in between the twelve blades of two Special Editions of their double-rotor watch.

A universally adopted logo intended to signal the presence of toxic substances, the skull appeared in classical art as a symbol of the past, before coming to symbolise piracy in the 18th century, and then certain well-known motorbike fans in the 1950s… It has now lost its taboo connotations to become a symbol of freedom that has spread throughout all echelons of the fashion world.

Beneath the optical effect created by the 12-blade wheel rotating across the Turbine Toxic models, the human skull appears in a truly luxurious almost Damien Hirst 'For the Love of God' style interpretation.

The men’s version is set with 210 diamonds (0.82 cts) and the ladies’ variation with 155 diamonds (0.59 cts). The skulls sing out against against an all-black background spread across the cases, dials and straps.

Choose between the bold Turbine Toxic XL model measuring 50mm in diameter; a DLC-treated steel watch on a rubber strap, and or the 41 mm Turbine Toxic XS in DLC-treated steel on a rubber or satin strap.